bashpics99

tbh i prefer the version with pink skin that wears a full body red leotard (or whatever) over the mostly nude with red skin version, but not a big deal, still very recognizably Mephisto. Anyhow good looking figure but of course not worth shelling out for a Haslab just to get him imo so I guess i won't be adding him to the collection. I do think if the haslab fails they will find another way to release the figure in a year or two, possibly as part of an sdcc or pulse-exclusive set. Have a 3-pack with Mephiso and A) Strange & Doom B) Thanos and Nebula or C) Spidey & Mary Jane. Or have a "re-released tiers" 2-pack with Mephisto and Surfer. Whatever there are a lot of possibilities for pairing this "controversial" character with more mainstream ones, or of course they could go the other way and have a Mephisto / Blackheart 2 pack or whatever. Goblin Queen same deal would probably need to be some sort of only-hasbro exclusive like the Hellfire Club ladies, Having her as a tier for the GR haslab is likely to get some x-fans pretty upset but otoh seems unlikely this lab would hit that tier

pretty excited about a lot of the x-men reveals in particular. will definitely be grabbing Longshot, Dark Phoenix, Avalanche, Spiral. Orb looks cool too!! Finding that moonstone pretty disappointing - wanted a more classic look and this one just looks so minimal. Molecule Man could be better imo but he's passable. 90s Cyke looks good, the cel shading doesn't seem too bad. Stryfe cool but dunno about 5-pack

well i had tried to resist looking at this as i feel like this leak takes an awful lot of wind out of the sails of hasbro's ML teams hascon presentation. But i only held out for about 24 hours before looking a the leaks anyhow. i guess we all eat humble pie sometimes Part of me things that someone intentionally leaked it to distract from the recent negative reception Hasbro's been getting especially regarding the Haslab, but nah Hasbro likes all the streaming events etc way too much to let it all loose like this. And tbh i think Disney would be none too happy about some of these reveals given how hush-hush they usually are about everything. Definitely a bunch of must-have figures for me on that list, including Molecule Man, Safari Wonder Man, Blob, the Skrull 2-pack, Squadron Supreme 2-pack. There are a number of others i will probably get too, like Corsair, Strucker, Orb, Rose, Tarantula, Outback Rogue, the FF kids 2-pack, Hawkeye & Sky Cycle, Hulk/Banner and Rambeau/Doom 2-pack. I'm hoping the Marvel/Doom 2-pack has classic Monica and some sort of Beyonder-armor Doom look. I wonder how much they will want for that FF kids 2-pack. But overall at least 20 figures i'm interested in, so that's pretty good compared to this year. I am sure i will pick up some mcu figures as well but i'm getting much pickier when it comes to those. I'll avoid speculating further to avoid any spoilers i guess

it almost feels like Hasbro is actively trying to burn through fan's good will. I mean they did not need to announce the price at all a few months ago, they could've just said TBD. instead they said $60 and the timing on this announcement to raise the price couldn't be worse (granted, somewhat unavoidable with Hascon coming up). I am still not entirely convinced the solo Mojo will sell for $42, i think somewhere in the $60s more likely but if indeed it is $42 then you have haslab debacle where the price tag for what is offered is the #1 complaint and indeed hard to see how Charger, Galactus, and Sentinel all cost the same, even if we ignore any tiers Mojo debacle where fans accidentally find out that Mojo can be had for a price that makes the box set price look exorbitant seemingly arbitrary increase in selfie series figure I have been a big ML fan for a long time and continue to think that it is overall the best mass retail action figure line of all time but some of their recent decisions make me shake my head.

They can reveal another tier at Hascon but i'm not sure it really will move the needle that much. I still think it could make it to 9K in the end (and certainly hope so for the Robbie fans out there) but am dubious about it reaching any tiers, let alone a 2nd one after Mephisto. Of course that surge in the end could turn out to be a huge but i think it more likely to go the other way like the Rancor (which lets not forget did come close to funding... hasbro kind of chose to bail on that one themselves imo) Feels like McFarlane might have decided to troll hasbro by a giant vehicle (the Batmobeast) for $50, that comes with a re-release of Death Metal Batman (granted no light up features). more likely just coincidental timing though.

But don't you think they must have research that shows somehow that spreading out the tiers somehow makes me more people overall aware of the product or somesuch, or maybe that its somehow tied into the broader brand awareness (obviously backfiring here, but you get what i mean). Yes i don't think its working well but i assume there is some reasoning behind it all, including the ML team revealing new figures in dribs and drabs every few weeks. I'm sure evidence would show that spreading stuff out does increase social media chatter significantly, which feels like common sense as well, but either Hasbro is naive in understanding how negative social chatter builds on itself (and indeed is incentivized by the reward of clicks/views) or they just assume all publicity is good even if negative. I tend to think they underestimated how rewarding negativity can be in this social media environment and also just plain overestimated demand for the charger, especially in this specific environment - inflation has cut back on people's spending and also led to sticker shock, haslabs aren't the novelty they once were and we've seen a few fail now so its not so surprising. last but not least c'mon just put Galactus, Sentinel and this charger side by side and tell me you think they should all cost the same. All that said, i do hope it meets the 9K so people who want the hellcharger can get it! if you are a hardcore fan and can afford it, why not? it does look cool (even if i think it could've looked better).

I'd buy that for $42 for sure. i thought i saw another tag in that aisle (in the IG photo i saw) that was like $60 and thought that might be the more likely price for this guy solo as that seems more in line with hasbro these days. i wonder if this "reveal" will cause loads of cancellations on the box set order, just as legender above did. from what i read elsewhere the paint apps on the box set version are better than the ones on this guy fwiw

eh, even if they did have plans to rerelease mephisto in some other format if his tier isn't reached, they're not going to say anything about that right now when they are trying to motivate everyone to back the haslab. I do tend to believe hasbro when they say they would not likely have a mass retail release for Mephisto. However, I do think if the haslab fails or just doesn't hit the tiers, we could end up seeing him in some sort of pulse exclusive set but that probably wouldn't be for a few years - hasbro certainly would not want to set a precedent since it would defeat the point of having tiers in the 1st place. as for the complaints about paying $350 if they only want Mephisto, i can empathize to a degree but at the same time its not that much different from Hasbro releasing sets. Often there is only character the consumer wants but you have to buy the whole set anyhow. I wanted Mastermind and Callisto but couldn't get either without also shelling out for 3 figures i didn't want. so i passed. maybe eventually i'll shell out the $30 or so aftermarket prices. again it does kinda suck but its a long-standing component of ML's business strategy (along with BAFs). Collectors will have to decide for themselves whether getting Mephisto is important enough to them to either shell out for the haslab, wait for the aftermarket on ML Mephisto, try and get an old select Mephisto, or get some customizer to make one for them. My guess w/o doing any research is that aside from the haslab, the other options for getting mephisto will probably run about $100. That's too rich for me but collectors will have to make that subjective decision about how important Mephisto is for their collection.

Feels like that is a bit of a catch-22 though, doesn't it? you won't back unless early bird figure is included, but the early bird figure won't be included without sufficient backers. Maybe this will end up with sort of a best case scenario - the project funds but doesnt hit any tiers. So backers will get the car and Robbie. then a year later hasbro announces what would've been the tier figures as part of a pulse exclusive box set or something. That's kind of win-win, i guess? even if the haslab backers didn't get all that they could've for their $350. Altho tbh i think if it doesn't hit tiers a lot of backers will bail out. Oh well i look forward to finding out what the tiers will be.

But the question is, if not this, then what? seems like rolling the dice on a GR haslab isn't that ridiculous - his whole flaming skull/vehicle look has a lot of aesthetic appeal for a lot of folks, beyond marvel fans. Likewise charger is a super-popular vehicle. So even if this particular version of GR is not the most popular, hasbro probably figured it was still cool enough looking to (maybe) get enough backing. iow i think GR has more crossover appeal than most marvel characters, aside from Punisher. I'm just not really convinced there is another $350 offering that would have been more of a slam-dunk. I can't think of any other "big" characters that would be anywhere near as popular as the Sentinel or Galactus. Punisher van or Fantasticar seem feasible but both have flaws - Frank's van doesn't look nearly as cool as the lit-up Hellcharger, and the Fantasticar doesn't really seem like it would merit $350. Both a quinjet or blackbird would likely be more than $350 and take up more real estate. A Danger room playset, not sure how that would even work. So again while this haslab may not make it, feels like it was a pretty good choice from the options they have. Of course others may have additional suggestions. And worth noting, Hasbro could always choose to make something a bit less ambitious for a lower price next year.

it sounds like they know this haslab might not fly but it was the best offering they could come up with. which i'm pretty much in agreement with although you debate stuff like the Fantasticar, Blackbird or a Danger Room. as for mephistos, well whether hasbro had ever considered a retail release is pretty much no longer relevant, now its all about artificial scarcity. If you want Mephistos, eIther pay a steep price on the aftermarket or buy the haslab and become an aftermarket seller yourself. that's classic hasbro for you! And if you're expecting a re-release, look to classic Colossus, Vision, 80s Cyclops, Dark Phoenix, etc that all have yet to see a re-release.

Yes I think it'll hit the 9000 backer target, at least. i think between whatever number of ghost rider die-hard fans are out there and those buying while planning to resell some/all components (either as a way of getting a few characters they want without the whole set, or as an "investment") will put it over the top. I will be curious to see what the tiers will be and whether they will be unlocked. $350 feels like a lot to spend on a car and a few figures compared to what you were getting with Sentinel and Galactus, personally i have no interest. but then its hard for me to imagine another $350 project that would appeal to me. if mephisto turns out to be disappointing or frankly if any of the tiers turn out to be let-downs, feels like that could tank the whole project. But will definitely be following along to see what they are. also feels like there should be more chrome/shininess with the car.

Cool figure, definitely something i'd pick up. now when is hasbro going to get around to re-releasing that super-skrull BAF? or even having another shot at the skrull army builders? reminds me what a missed opportunity that captain marvel wave was - imagine if it had included a comic kree and skrull army builder instead of the lame talos and yon-rogg figures. oh well also if this guy has all the powers of the illuminati he probably should have one stretchy arm for reed

yes i agree mcu yellow DD would have been more appealing but again how many collectors would prefer that figure to be sold on its own, without having to subscribe to marvel unlimited to get him, not to mention i imagine hasbro thinks it can sell a bunch more mcu DDs than what they would via unlimited. I'm pretty sure even if DD didn't make the cut for Disney+ wave 3 or 4 he could end up getting an exclusive or fan channel release - despite how badly the comic yellow DD pegwarmed at WG Don't get me wrong, i have nothing against marvel unlimited, these days its pretty much the only way i read comics that aren't already in my collection. I only subscribe for a month every now and then though, not interested in a yearlong sub.

eh, they always go with a cheap repaint for the unlimited figure, if it was anything halfway desirable then all the ML collectors would be complaining about having to pay for unlimited to get it. i think they will eventually do an mcu yellow version - perhaps just a repaint of the previous mcu version. and if they do DD on a new buck then a yellow variant would probably be a pretty quick follow-up.